Device for synchronizing clutch and gear sets on motor-vehicles



D. P. HARRIS.

DEVICE FOR SYNCHRONIZING CLUTCH AND GEAR SET ON MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9.1920.

1,359,900.. Patented June 7, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

IT" .-9- j- D. P. HARRIS.

DEVICE FOR SYNCHRONIZING CLUTCH AND GEAR SET ON MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9 1920.

1,380,900., Patented June 7, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

nutren stares DONALD?. MRIS, OF JERSEY SHORE, PENNSYLVANT. l

DEVIE FOR SYNGHRONIZUQ'G CLUTCH AND GEAR SETS MOTR-VEHICLES.

ASpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented dune 7, i221.

Application med. March 9, 1920. SeriaI No. 364,552.

To allee/tom it may concern.'

Be it known thatl, DONALD l). HARRIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at .l ersey Shore in the county of vLycoming and State oflbennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements inDevices for Synchronizing Clutch and Gear Sets on Motor-Vehicles; and ldo hereby dev claro the following to he a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved device for synchronizing theclutch and gear set on 'a motor vehicle and one ohfect of the' inventionis to so construct this evice that the clutch may be thrown out orn meshwhen shifting the gears thus preventing stripping of the ears during theshifting process.

Anot er object of the invention is to so construct this device that theclutch may be returned to an operative position and brought into anoperative position a short time after the shifting of the gears has beencompleted.

Another o'hject or the invention is to so construct this device that theclutch may be Y operated through the medium oi an electric motor' havingpositioned in its circuit switches placed adjacent the gear shittinglever and moved to a closed position prior to the shifting of the gearsthus permitting the proper action. p

Another object of the invention is to provide means for retardingmovement of the2A clutch to an operative osition thus permitting thegears to be shifted prior to the return ofthe clutch to an operativeposition. p This' invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fi ure 1 isa side elevation oi' a motor vide with the improved device.

Fig. 2 isa top lan view showing the relapro- ` tion of the gear s iftinglever to the switches.

.'shitted.'

My improvements are adapted forassociation with motor vehicles of theusual type. A neck 13 may extend from the gear housmg to mount the gearshifting' lever` designated 1d. rllhe clutch is provided with theactuating pedal 15 which is also of a conventional constructionexcepting that this treadle is provided witn teeth forming a rack 16which engages the 'inion 17 carried by a' rotatably mounted pu ley 18which pulley is to receive rotary movement :trom a pulley 19- carried hythe shaft of an electric motor 20 through the medium of the belt 21. Thegear shifting lever 11i is slightly diderent trom the conventionalconstruction of lever in that itis formed in two sections which arepivotally connected through the medium of the joint 22. lt will thus beseen that the upper' section of this lever may have a slight rockingmovement upon its pivot before the lever is moved as a whole and thegears is desired to have a shifting lever locked against accidentalmovement out of a desired position and in order to dothis there has heenprovided dogs 23 which are pivotally mounted as shown at 24: to extendinto the neck 13 upon opposite sides of the lever and'have their outerend portions provided with arms 25 having gear'segments at their freeends which mesh so that when one of v the dogs -is moved a similarmovement will he transmitted to. the second dog. One of these dogs isprovided with a lever extension 26 which 1s engaged hy a spring 27-serv- .,ing to yieldably retain the dogs in the locking position.- Anarm 28 extends from the treadle 15 and is connected with the lever arm26 by means of a cable or other flexible connection 29 therebypermitting movement to be transmitted from theA treadle to the dogs or"from the dogs to the treadle. After the treadle'has been moveddownwardly it is desired to have it retarded in its upward movement andthere has therefore been pro.- lvided a dash pot or check which ispositioned beneath the treadle. rThis dash pot .is

provided with a cylinder 30 having a cap 31 from which extendsr a neckor oil tight bushing 32 through which extends the shaft or stem 33 ofthe piston Se. rlhis piston,

. which is normali retained in a lowered position through t e medium oithe spring 35, is provided with openings 36 through which oil orasimilar element will ass when the piston is moving in the cylin er andit will thus be readily `seen that l-since the treadle is connected withthis iston stem or shaft through the medium o the cable or otherflexible connection 37, movement of the treadle toward a raised positionafter havin been moved downwardly will be retarde The treadle may,however, be moved downwardly rapidly since the flexible connection doesnot prevent the treadle from moving downwardly independent of themovement of the piston. V

In .order to control the flow of current from the battery 38 to themotor 20, there has been provided switches 39 which are positioned uponsupports 40 located about the ear shifting lever 14 as shown in Fig. 2.ach of these switches is constructed as shown clearly in Fig. 7 and isprovided with side bars 41 and 42 which carry contact points 43insulated from the side bars as shown at 44 and connected with the wires`forming the circuit. stationary andthe side bar 42 is movable andpivotally mounted as shown at 45, a cam head or extension 46 beingprovided for permitting the movable arm to be swung away from thestationary arm and a spring 47 being provided to yieldably retain thearm in the normal position with the contact points 43 in engagement.When the shift- 1ng lever is in the neutral position shown in Fig. 2, itis desired to permit the circuit to the motor to be broken and there hastherefore been provided a cutout Switch 48 which will be located at anyconvenient point in the circuit where it may be easily reached. Thiscutout switch is provided with a conventional construction. y

When in use the motor will be Started in closed, the motor 20 throughthe medium of the pulley 18 and pinion 17 will cause the treadle to bemoved downwardly thush throwin the clutch out of an operative position.The gear shifting lever can then be moved to the first speed. When 'thelever passes between the side bars of the switch 39 associated with thisfirst speed position, the circuit through the motor will be broken thusermitting the treadle to be moved u ward y. The treadle will however echecked in its upward movement by the dash pot and the lever will haveample time to make the proper gear shift before the clutch moves into anoperative position and the dogs move into a locking position. After thecar has started on first speed, the lever will be moved to the secondspeed position and in doing so the u per portion of the lever will beErst mov out of engagel ment with the switch 39 'of the first speedposition thus closing the switch and causing the motor to move theclutch to an inoperative positlon and causing the dogs to e The side bar41 isV 'swung out of .an operative position. The

sary for the same length of time to elapse as was desirable when makingthe first change from neutral to rst speed and therefore the flexibleconnection 37 has been provided so -that the clutch can be thrownentirely out of gear and the treadle then moved upwardl to take up theslack in the cable 37 bev ore the dash pot or check comes intooperation. The same operation will be repeated when shifting from secondto third speed 0r from third speed to neutral but, of course, whenmoving to neutral the Shifting leverl will be left in theposition shownin Fig. 2 and the piston 34 will move to the bottom of the cylinder thusproviding ample time for the c ange to be made to reverse if desiredwithout danger of stripping the gears. It is not necessary to have theclutch out of an operative position when the automobile is standingstill -at a curb and therefore the switch 48 has been provided so thatthe flow .tral to iirst speed or reverse and switch 48 is `open this canbe done since when moving the lever it will engage'oneof the dogs andsutiicient pressure will force the dogs outwardly, the cable or exibleconnection 2 permitting of this movement.

What is claimed is:

1. A structure of the characterdescribed comprising a gear shiftinglever, a clutch shifting treadle, movably mounted locking dogs for thegear shifting lever having operative connection with the clutchoperating treadle, a dash pot having a flexible cbnnection with. thetreadle for retarding movement of the treadle in one direction,electrically operated means for imparting movement to the treadle in onedirection, and anenergizing circuit for the electrically operated meansincluding switches positioned in operative relation to the gear shiftinglever and moved to an open position to break the circuit when the leveris moved to shift the gears.

2. The combination with a motor including a gearing having a shiftinglever and a clutch having an ac tuatin treadle, of electrically operatedmeans connection withthe treadle :for moving the same in one direction,a dash pot having a aving operative' treadle in the opposite direction,and a circuit for energizing the'electrically operated means andincluding switches positioned in operative relation to the gear shiftinglever, the 'switches being normally closed and moved to an open positionby the lever.

3. The combination with a motor includin a clutch actuating treadle anda gear shifting lever of a dash pot having connection with the treadlefor retarding movement of the same in one direction, an electric motorhaving operative connection with the treadle for moving the same in onedirection, dogs for locking said lever having operative connection withthe treadle whereby the dogs will be moved to an inoperative positionwhen the treadle is moved downwardly by the electrically operated means,and a circuit for energizing the motor including switches positioned inoperative relation to the gear lever and normally closed, the switchesbeing moved to open position throu h the medium of said lever.

4. structure of the character described comprising a gear actuatinglever, a clutch actuating treadle, a dash pot having a cylinder, a capfor the cylinder, a piston slidably mounted in the cylinder and providedwith liquid passages, a piston rod extending from thel piston throughthe cap, a spring positioned about the piston rod between the piston andcap, leXible means connecting the outer end of the piston rod with thetreadle, an electrically operated motor having operative connection withthe treadle for moving the treadle downwardly, and a circuit forenergizing the motor including a switch positioned 1n operative relationto the lever and normally closed, the switch being moved to an openposition through the medium of the lever.

5. A device of the character described comprising a gear shifting lever,a clutch actuating treadle, electrically operated means for impartingmovement to the treadle in one direction, and a circuit for energizingthe electrically operated means including switches positioned inoperative relation to the lever, each switch having a support, astationary side bar,'a movable side bar pivotally mounted and providedwith a cam extension adjacent its pivoted end for engagement by thelever, Contact points carried by the side bars, resilient meansyieldably retaining the side bars in position with the contacts inengagement, said lever when engaging the cam extension moving the sidebars to separate the contact points and break the circuit.

6. A device of the character described comprising a gear shifting lever,a clutch actuating treadle, the gear shifting lever having its upperportion pivotally connected with the lower portion whereby the upperportion of the lever may have swinging movement prior to movement by thelower portion thereof, electrically operated means having operativeconnection with the treadle for imparting movement to the same in onedirection, and a circuit for energizing the electrically operated meansincluding a switch positioned in operative relation to the upper endportion of the lever and normally in a closed position, the switch beingmoved to anopen position through the medium of the upper portion of thelever.

In testimony whereof l afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DONALD P. HARRIS. Witnesses:

DAVID S. RICHMON,

C. H. SUERssEN.

